My tangerine colored Kitchenaid stand mixer is a workhorse in my kitchen. A gift from my parents when I was in college, it has been a staple in every kitchen I’ve had since the age of 21. (And it’s survived six moves, if memory serves.) Now, nearly 20 years later, I noticed that my mixer was making funny noises, bouncing around when kneading dough, getting stuck in the down position and just generally not working as well. Because I am sentimental about this machine, I set out on a mission to restore my Kitchenaid mixer to its former glory.
I follow the Instagram account of the online personality and small business owner dubbed Mr. Mixer, and appreciate his witty commentary and ability to rehabilitate defective and worn out mixers. When I realized that my own mixer needed some help, I searched online for a local business that could repair the machine. Time and time again, my searches returned glowing reviews for Mr. Mixer and his repair work.
For the courageous DIY’er, Mr. Mixer doesn’t gatekeep his knowledge. His YouTube channel offers up tutorials on how to fix your own mixer at home. His storefront even sells all of the parts you may need to do the fixing. I am not a courageous DIY’er, however, especially when it comes to my beloved mixer.
Mr. Mixer’s shop is located nearly five hours from my home; thankfully, he offers a turnkey shipping service to and from his place of business. I ordered the packing materials and shipping labels directly from his website. Earlier this year, I packed up my orange mixer and sent it off to be restored.
Included in the shipping material (box, bubble wrap and perforated cardboard) is a detailed intake form. I described the issues I was seeing, as well as requested the work to be completed. For my mixer, I selected a complete rebuild, and added the love handle accessory for ease of carrying.
When my mixer arrived at Mr. Mixer, I received a text message update. The mixer went into the work queue. Next I received a message letting me know that my mixer was on the workbench in preparation for service. This was an exciting announcement! Typically all photos and the complete repair happens in one day.
I was fortunate enough to have my machine be the subject of one of Mr. Mixer’s repair videos (see below), so the repair process took a few days overall.
At the end of service, I received quite a few photos of my machine in the process of being restored. An invoice was then sent to my email address for easy, online payment. Last, the Mr. Mixer crew carefully packed and shipped my mixer back home.
Including the shipping material, I spent a total of $464.99. Comparatively, a brand new Kitchenaid 5 qt. Artisan mixer costs $499.99. But I argue that the newer models are built of inferior parts and will not last two decades (like mine did) before inevitably requiring maintenance and repair work. And, possibly most importantly, a new Kitchenaid mixer from Walmart doesn’t hold the same sentimental value as my lovely tangerine mixer does. And I just wasn’t ready to send her to the dump.
I am thrilled with my restored Kitchenaid mixer. It runs smoothly, kneads dough and no longer gets stuck in the locked position after working through stiffer batter. I am thankful to Mr. Mixer for getting the old workhorse back in the kitchen and ready for the next 20 years of baking and memory making with my family!
Jackie Baird Richardson is an interior designer, editor at The WON and avid junker. Watch for her design tips and occasional crafting ideas, bringing the outdoors indoors. View all posts by Jackie Richardson
